GILLY BARNES

Gilly's first foray into filmmaking, "Hey Spirit," was an experimental documentary short that explored the world of high school cheerleading and debuted at the Telluride Film Festival. The film caught the attention of creative directors at MTV and Mercedes Benz who tapped her for assignments that were driven by her expressive sound design and editorial technique. She was subsequently signed by Maysles Films in New York to work as a commercial director for the company.

Gilly possesses an offbeat sensibility informed by fluid camera work and spot-on casting choices. She has brought her unique style to a diverse roster of music video and commercial clients (Nike, Sony, DirecTV, American Express, Ford Motors, The Disney Channel, ABC, NBC, Atlantic Records, Tylenol, Bounty, ESPN, Etsy.com, The Partnership for a Drug Free America). She is the recipient of a national Emmy award for writing and directing a series of public service announcements that aired on PBS and an Addy award for her work with Optimum Online. She has also continued to work in the longer format arena, including a narrative series for Nickelodeon, a documentary about hunger in America and a series on Muslims commissioned by the US State Department. Her short fiction film, "Wait Here" won honorable mention at the Hamptons International Film Festival and is currently in rotation on IFC.

Longer form credits include an ASME-nominated and Webby honored series for Vanity Fair called "The Snob's Dictionary," a series on eco-innovators for Ford Motors and Andrian Grenier, films for the CNN Heroes broadcast, the TED conferences, Stand Up 2 Cancer and a documentary about the history of glitter for Etsy.com that was featured on Huffpo. This year she was selected along with Judd Apatow, Brett Ratner and Don Cheadle, to direct a film for Vanity Fair Magazine's centennial.